FORT WORTH, Texas – Many folks believe former Eagle Mountain-Saginaw forensic science teacher Rachelle Heenan got off easy for having sex with one of her students.

The married mother of two received only five years of adjudicated probation after she was convicted in February 2014 of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student in her class at Hollenstein Career and Technology Center.

Her husband found out about the affair and contacted school officials, court documents show.

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Heenan was forced to relinquish her teaching certificate, but avoided jail time and a conviction on her record if she successfully completes probation.

Heenan’s nightmare, however, has only just begun.

The student victim, using the pseudonym Mark Smith, is now suing Heenan and the school district for emotional distress, pain and suffering, and damages that resulted from the sexual abuse.

The teen was set to enlist in the Marines the day after graduation, but the trauma from the torrid relationship derailed his plans, according to the lawsuit.

The teacher’s sexual assault also played on the young man’s emotions, and caused him to spiral out of control, the lawsuit alleges.

“ … Heenan caused him emotional grief and confusion which led to him acting in a manner unbecoming to his character,” the lawsuit reads. “As a result of the emotional stress and confusion, (Smith) damaged some school property and incurred an excessive bill for the property damage for which he owes in excess of $24,000, for which he sues (Heenan) for the same along with other damages under the law.”

The case, and Heenan’s very light sentence, highlights what many perceive to be a societal double standard for males and females involved in sexual assaults, and challenges the common misconception that male victims are somehow less impacted by these types of inappropriate relationships.

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The facts

Heenan was placed on administrative leave by the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district after her husband, Joseph Heenan, “found out about the illicit relationship and notified school officials” in May 2012, according to the lawsuit filed in Tarrant County District Court last month.

The student victim, who was a 17-year-old senior at the time, was in Heenan’s forensic science class at Hollenstein Career and Technology Center preparing for a career as a diesel mechanic in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was set to enlist in June 2012, the day after graduation, the Star-Telegram reports.

The two began exchanging racy text messages around February 2012, and the relationship quickly escalated to an after-school rendezvous in a private gym parking lot, after which Heenan and the student checked into a hotel and had sex, news and court reports show.

District and criminal investigations in 2013 revealed Heenan and the victim also engaged in sex acts at other hotels and at school events during the four-month affair. She was eventually indicted on a second-degree felony charge of improper relationship between educator and student, which carries a potential 20-year prison sentence.

In February 2013, Heenan was sentenced to five years deferred adjudication probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine, which essentially means if she doesn’t violate her probation a conviction will not appear on her criminal record. She also surrendered her teacher’s license to avoid disciplinary proceedings by the State Board of Educator Certification, the lawsuit claims.

Heenan had taught for the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district at Boswell High School since 2004, and it was her first year teaching forensic science at the technology center in 2012, according to WFAA television station.

The victim’s attorneys contend “Heenan used her position of trust as teacher/educator and adult to prey upon the impressionable young male student.”

“As a result of the improper relationship, sexual contacts and encounters initiated by (Heenan), (the student victim) suffered serious permanent emotional, psychological and physical injuries for which he now sues upon,” according to the lawsuit.

The victim states Heenan’s husband, who is also named in the lawsuit, “knew of her attraction to teenaged boys” but “failed to act to warn or otherwise protect young victims and failed to secure the personal property shared with his wife … from the sexual assaults that occurred.”

Further, the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district “knew of or should have known of (Heenan’s) attraction and sexual assault of the minor plaintiff” and “failed to provide proper supervision, failed to act to warn or otherwise protect young victims and failed to secure the school premises from the sexual assaults that occurred on school premises and at school sponsored events and activities,” according to the lawsuit.

The student is suing Heenan, her husband, and the school district on the grounds of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seeks an undisclosed amount in pain and suffering and other damages.

“Plaintiff suffered severe emotional pain, mental anguish, mental shock, physical pain, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of appetite, and loss of earning capacity and other pecuniary losses for which Plaintiff should be compensated,” according to the lawsuit, which is also seeking legal expenses.

Misconceptions

Public comments to numerous stories online about the case reveal many believe the student, because he’s male, wasn’t really traumatized by the inappropriate relationship.

“There was a time when high school boys would want to sleep with their teachers and enjoy every minute of it while their buddies sit in envy of them,” Fredericka Krueger, of Minneapolis, wrote in response to a recent DailyMail article on the lawsuit. “Now everyone wants a lawsuit paycheck for non-existent trauma.”

“I must be from another planet … red-blooded teenagers of the straight male variety spend much of the waking moments talking about, and/or trying to get sex from a female,” according to poster aandm12 from Laguna Hills. “Any male that says he has never had a fantasy about the hot teacher is lying. This young man had it handed to him on a plate, had seconds, and NOW is traumatized? Get a grip!”

The majority of commenters on the Daily Mail story and others poked fun at the victim for the lawsuit, and alleged the case is a sham, but a select few seemed to understand there’s a clear double-standard for male and female victims, and believe Heenan’s punishment was far too lenient.

“A female student would win her case,” userpete86, of Irvine, California, posted to the Daily Mail site.

“As a teen, to have had this relationship, rather than a healthy one with someone his own age, with someone who is married, and a teacher, and then to have had it discovered, and in the media, and a trial, and have your life and plans completely turned around, yet some of you imbeciles think he hit the jackpot because he had sex with his teacher,” wrote kittehv, of Northern California.

“Get real. This destroyed his last year in high school, this wasn’t a fantasy come true, this is the reality of what happens when a person, male or female, has sexual relations with someone who is underage and under their authority,” kittehv continued. “I hope he wins the lawsuit … she was wrong to do it and clearly the justice system gave her a slap on the wrist, so she needs bigger consequences.”

A 2005 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed one in six males are sexually abused before they turn 18, and television specials on “Oprah” and other programs in recent years have helped to highlight the problem.

Experts believe other high-profile incidents, such as allegations of hazing at Marine West High School, the Jerry Sandusky trial, and other cases are helping convince more male survivors of sexual assault to come forward than in the past, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“Male survivors are not what people think of when they think of rape victims,” Sharmili Majmudar, executive director of Rape Victims Advocates, told the Tribune.

Nevertheless, male victims face many of the same mental and emotional responses as female victims, according to RAINN – the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

“While not every male survivor of sexual assault reacts in the same way, many reactions are quite common. If left untreated, these effects can have a long-term impact on a survivor’s well-being,” according to the RAINN website.

Psychological reactions include a disrupted sense of self and concept of reality; profound anxiety, depression and fearfulness; a sense of a shortened future; withdrawal from interpersonal contact; and stress-induced reactions like problems sleeping, increased startle response, and inability to relax are all documented effects for male victims, according to RAINN.

“Psychological outcomes can be severe for men because men are socialized to believe they are immune to sexual assault and because societal reactions to these assaults can be more isolating,” the RAINN site states.

A study published in Psychology of Men & Masculinity in March that examined sexual coercion of high school and college aged boys found that four out of 10 adolescents surveyed have experienced some type of sexual coercion, and women were the aggressors in 95 percent of the cases.

David Lisak, founder of 1in6 (a nonprofit named after the 2005 CDC statistic) told the Tribune that those who are speaking out about their experiences are helping to shed the stigma associated with male sex assault victims.

“There is a growing sign that this is what’s going to change the face of sexual violence, whether it is child sexual assault or adult crimes,” he said. “People are realizing it’s not a crime for the victim to come forward and talk.”

And it seems as though at least some people are listening.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, for example, changed its definition of rape to include male victims and other types of sex assaults in 2012, the Tribune reports.

Regardless of the outcome, cases like Smith v. Heenan will only help to shed more light on true impact of female abusers on their male victims, and contribute to a conversation that has been dominated by misinformation and ignorance for years.